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A review by canislatrans
Red Plenty by Francis Spufford
4.0
This book is a fascinating look at the economics of the Soviet Union in its heyday of the 1950s and 60s. Written as historical fiction, it mixes real-life personages with imagined and composite characters in slice-of-life vignettes. These serve to illustrate the hopes and trials of the Soviet economic system at that time -- and of the people that were cogs in that machine.
There's a bit of discussion on some technical economics, but nothing too painfully in-depth. (I had the good fortune to be able to talk over some of the ideas with a current student of mathematical economics, so these was far from painful for me -- but your mileage may vary!) There are extensive endnotes giving more details on the background and sources of many of the incidents and ideas strung through Red Plenty.
I'm a little afraid I've made this book sound dry, and it's anything but. The stories are really quite good, and the characters quite real, and their lives at times inspiring, or heartbreaking.
There's a bit of discussion on some technical economics, but nothing too painfully in-depth. (I had the good fortune to be able to talk over some of the ideas with a current student of mathematical economics, so these was far from painful for me -- but your mileage may vary!) There are extensive endnotes giving more details on the background and sources of many of the incidents and ideas strung through Red Plenty.
I'm a little afraid I've made this book sound dry, and it's anything but. The stories are really quite good, and the characters quite real, and their lives at times inspiring, or heartbreaking.